Synopses & Reviews
The first edition of this book was published almost a decade ago to provide a comprehensive examination of the relationship between terrorism and public health. It also described what health professionals could do to mitigate the consequences of terrorist attacks and threats, and to address the underlying causes of terrorism.
This completely revised second edition provides new information on emergency preparedness and response planning as well as lessons learned from responses to terrorist attacks in the United States and other countries. Expert scholars and practitioners of public health explore the historical roots of terrorism and address potential terrorist weapons and their control. They also explore in detail the adverse health consequences of the "war on terror," including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, other violations of human rights and civil liberties, diversion of resources, and the adverse impact on civil society organizations.
Arguing for a more balanced approach to preparedness, the editors and contributors to this second edition describe challenges and opportunities for strengthening the public health system, protecting disaster rescue and recovery workers, and promoting domestic and international law related to terrorism.
Review
"Terrorism and Public Health is a provocative book written for times that challenge our values in how to respond. It calls for planning and restraint and a balancing of resources for the overall health of the public in the response to emergencies caused by terrorism." -- Journal of the American Medical Association
"This book addresses terrorism as a many-sided phenomenon. There are no easy answers either technically or politically, although the public health community has the responsibility to address it in [its] preventive aspect, politically, morally and from the point of view of social justice. For combining all of these perspectives, the editors...should be congratulated." -- Newsletter of the UK Public Health Association
"...the timely publication of this book is a service to all of us in public health, and it will be a useful resource for health professionals, emergency response organizations, and policy makers, as well as for teaching." -- International Journal of Epidemiology
"The public anxiety around the possibility of terrorist threats presents a challenge to all those working in public health, and it is to the great credit of [this book] that it helps us respond to this challenge in a sensible and balanced way."-- Medicine, Conflict and Survival
"This has to be the 'book of the year' so far, in this so important field of study and deserves the widest possible readership." -- The Occupational Safety and Health Journal of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
About the Author
Barry S. Levy, MD, MPH, is an Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Tufts University School of Medicine and a consultant in occupational and environmental health. Trained in internal medicine and preventive medicine, he served as a medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and as a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He worked in Kenya for the Carter Center and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dr. Levy served as a program director at Management Sciences for Health and as Executive Director of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Overall, he has worked in more than 20 countries. He served as President of APHA.
Victor W. Sidel, MD, is Distinguished University Professor of Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and an Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College. Trained in internal medicine and public health, he headed the Community Medicine Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital and chaired the Department of Social Medicine at Montefiore and Einstein. Dr. Sidel was a founder of the Physicians for Social Responsibility and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which was the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. He has served as President of both organizations, and as President of APHA and the Public Health Association of New York City.
Table of Contents
Part I: Introduction1. Challenges That Terrorism Poses to Public Health
Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel
Box 1-1: Guiding Principles for a Public Health Response to Terrorism
Box 1-2: Has the Nation's Response to Terrorism Strengthened the Public Health System?
Susan Allan
2. The Roots of Terrorism
Cheryl E. Easley and Carol Easley Allen
Box 2-1: Addressing Public Opinion in Muslim Communities
Zohra Rasekh and Gregory Pappas
Part II: Public Health Responses to Terrorist Attacks
3. The Public Health Response to the World Trade Center Attack and Its Aftermath by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Isaac B. Weisfuse, Trish Marsik, and Robert M. Brackbill
4. Investigating the Health Consequences of the World Trade Center Attack
Helen H. Lee, Emily C. Milam, Luz Claudio, Philip J. Landrigan, and Michael A. Crane
5. The Anthrax Attack of 2001
Philip S. Brachman
6. A Global Perspective on Terrorism and Public Health
John Middleton, Patrick Saunders, and Shamil Harron
7. The Mental Health Consequences of Terrorism
Zebulon Taintor
Box 7-1: The Experiences of Two Mental Health Professionals
Charles B. Strozier and Katie Gentile
Box 7-2: Terrorism, Media, and Hate Crimes
Nimmi Kapoor
Part III: Potential Terrorist Weapons and Their Control
8. Small Arms and Light Weapons
Wendy Cukier, Nelson Palacio, and Reefa Mahboob
9. Nuclear and Radiologic Weapons
Patrice M. Sutton and Robert M. Gould
Box 9-1: International Control of Nuclear Weapons
Robert M. Gould and Merav Datan
10. Chemical Weapons
Ernest C. Lee, Philipp C. Bleek, and Stefanos N. Kales
11. Biological Weapons
Victor W. Sidel and Barry S. Levy
Box 11-1: Research on Biological Weapons
Box 11-2: A Community Salmonellosis Outbreak Caused by Intentional Contamination of Restaurant Salad Bars
Part IV: Preparedness for Terrorist Attacks and Other Public Health Emergencies
12. Public Health Preparedness in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Jonathan E. Fielding and Alonzo L. Plough
13. Predicting and Planning for Public Health Emergencies
Nathaniel Hupert
Part V: Adverse Effects of the "War on Terror"
14. Protecting Civil Liberties and Human Rights
H. Jack Geiger and George J. Annas
15. Public Health Consequences of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel
Box 15-1: A Soldier's View
Garrett Reppenhagen
Box 15-2: A Perspective from Military Families
Elizabeth Frederick
16. Consequences of Torture
Leonard S. Rubenstein
17. The Impact of Anti-terrorism Law and Policy on Civil Society Organizations in the United States
Mark Sidel
Part VI: Challenges and Opportunities
18. Strengthening the Public Health System
C. William Keck and Marguerite A. Erme
19. Protecting Emergency Response and Recovery Workers
Dori B. Reissman, Renee Funk, John Halpin, John Piacentino, Margaret M. Kitt, and John Howard
Box 19-1: Integrating Psychological and Behavioral Components into Organizational Preparedness
20. Promoting Domestic and International Law
Peter Weiss
Appendix: A List of Some Organizations That Promote Peace and Address Issues Related to Emergency Preparedness and Response